The Absolute Godspeed of Infinite Worlds

As these words reached her ears, Kurono's eyes were also met with Eiji's aggressive, pitch-black gaze.

His eyes seemed capable of piercing through all illusions, seeing straight to the essence of things. Standing under his gaze felt like being exposed to a demon-revealing mirror, as if all flaws and deceptions were laid bare.

Before him, there had been another student who challenged her to a duel.

In that duel, the young man had also displayed swordsmanship that far exceeded expectations, along with extraordinary insight.

However, while that young man had merely surprised her, Eiji's eyes made her wary, as if no strategy could escape his notice.

In this world, there exists a certain type of person.

Their eyes possess unparalleled pressure, their presence exudes an inviolable absolute domain, and they possess an otherworldly, incomprehensible nature. The strongest among them can even break the constraints of physical laws, transcending the realm of humanity.

Such people are called——〈Swordsmen〉.

"...Interesting. It's been many years since anyone has said something like this to me."

Kurono suppressed the slight unease in her heart and raised a proud smile.

"If you can do it, then go ahead and try!"

She made up her mind to get serious.

If she didn't get serious, she might actually lose to this kid. If she, the new Director, lost to a mere freshman, her authority would be shattered before it could even be established.

As proof, she extended her right hand. Under the surge of deep black magical light, a black handgun appeared in her grasp.

Her Device——〈Propator〉.

A handgun-type Device, and the medium through which she wielded her Blazer ability.

With her time-manipulation ability, she could infinitely accelerate, decelerate, or even pause the time of any target. As long as her bullets could hit the opponent, victory was assured.

It was with this ability that she had achieved the rank of third in the world in her early twenties!

However, the prerequisite was——

Her bullets had to hit Eiji.

On the other side.

Eiji gathered all the strength in his body, assuming a thrusting stance, the most force-concentrating movement in swordsmanship.

Then, he made no further moves, simply closing his eyes gently.

He shut off all external senses—vision, hearing, touch. At this moment, he truly lost all perception of the world. Not only could he not sense Kurono's reactions, but he couldn't even feel the slightest breeze.

With astonishing mental focus, he channeled all his senses into his sixth sense.

The sixth sense.

In other words, instinct, or ——intuition.

Then, at a certain moment——

Eiji completely followed his instincts, his right foot stomping the ground as his entire body instantly lifted into the air.

In the next millisecond, Kurono pulled the trigger.

No.

She couldn't pull the trigger.

Clang——!

In that instant, the world seemed to lose its color, becoming a space composed of black and white.

A sharp, piercing sound, like the breaking of the atmosphere, emanated from the beautiful katana.

"——Lightning Flash!"

In a daze, Kurono seemed to hear such a whisper.

A silver light flashed by.

With unparalleled speed, carrying immense momentum, it passed through her body in less than the blink of an eye.

Boom——!!

Immediately after, a massive shockwave erupted, sweeping across the entire arena and even rushing toward the distant spectator stands. A deafening roar echoed throughout the training ground!

The terrifyingly loud noise and commotion stunned everyone present.

Including Kurono Shinguuji and Touka Toudou, everyone was frozen in place.

No one had expected that Eiji's decisive strike would produce such an earth-shattering reaction, like a thunderclap exploding in their ears, robbing everyone of their senses.

It was unbelievable to the extreme, shocking to the utmost.

Three seconds later.

The wind in the arena dissipated, and silence returned.

Gulp!

On the spectator stands, the sound of someone swallowing their saliva was clearly heard.

"...Hey, what just happened?"

A trembling voice reached their ears.

"...Just look at the arena and you'll know."

Someone replied in a muffled tone.

In the arena.

The two combatants had already disappeared from the field.

Kurono appeared outside the arena, having crashed into the barrier. Her entire body was embedded in the barrier, and a large patch of grass nearby had been torn away, completely blown off by the massive shockwave.

In the center of her chest was embedded a long sword, shimmering with rippling silver light.

The blade was deeply embedded in her chest, pinned to the barrier behind her, with only the hilt remaining, held by the black-haired young man.

It took a while before Kurono Shinguuji slowly regained her senses.

In that instant, it felt as if she had been hit head-on by a high-speed train, instantly knocking her senseless. The Device in her hand had slipped away involuntarily, and she hadn't even had time to pull the trigger.

And this was merely the byproduct of Eiji's Blazer ability.

"I see... It's not conceptual interference, but causation interference, is it?"

Kurono slumped weakly against the wall, feeling the miserable state she was in, and couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh.

It wasn't until she was struck head-on by this sword that she truly understood the true nature of Eiji's Blazer ability.

It was definitely not something as simple as speed control.

His ability completely surpassed that.

If her guess was correct, then his ability was likely——

Absolute speed surpassing the opponent.

The faster the opponent, the faster he could become!

The stronger you are, the stronger I become. No matter how strong you are, I can still become stronger. It was an utterly unreasonable ability.

In that brief moment, he had likely used this ability, setting her as the target to surpass. Thus, in that single strike, he had achieved an absolute speed that exceeded her reaction limit!

——Lightning Flash.

A truly decisive strike!

In this world, the number of people who could block this strike could be counted on one hand.

At the very least, she had failed.

Kurono shook her head with a bitter smile.

With this, her authority as the new Director was basically shattered.

However, in contrast, she felt a sense of anticipation.

This freshman, with his unimaginably powerful ability and hailing from the God of War's lineage—what kind of splendor would he display at Hagun Academy, or even at the annual national student knight tournament——Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival?

Struck by the Illusionary Form of the Device, Kurono's chest bore no injuries, but all her strength seemed to have been drained, leaving her utterly exhausted.

"Where is this blood coming from?"

Suddenly, a vivid pool of crimson blood caught the corner of her eye, causing her to pause abruptly. She looked down at the young man in her arms.

Then, her pupils contracted——

The young man in her arms had long since lost consciousness.

His muscles were torn, countless bones were shattered, and his blood vessels had burst extensively beneath his skin. Blood soaked his entire body, staining his clothes and the ground beneath him. It was clear that he was barely breathing, with more air leaving his body than entering.

"Isn't this completely on the verge of death!?"